Manta Rays News 12.3.25

Jocelyn Paxton

Good afternoon, Manta Rays! Here’s your weekly news (a few days early 😊)!

December Invite Information

Swim meet information (including warm-up times, events and parent job assignments) has been posted to the Hosted Meets tab of the team website: https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/ymca-2205/page/hosted-meets

Additional meet details will be updated as they become finalized so, please keep checking the team website & HEJA!

A few other important details regarding the December Invite & MHS:

  • We will be sharing our team camp area with Newton, so please leave some space available for them.
  • There are high school basketball games scheduled at MHS on Saturday during our meet time, so please be sure our swimmers (and visiting swimmers) are not interfering with basketball or in other areas of MHS that are designated as “off-limits”.
  • Please DO NOT park in the fire lanes next to the pool entrance on the Bonnie Drive Parking lot side of MHS.  Please Park in designated parking lots only!

Team Caps Have Arrived!!

Team caps have arrived!  I will be sorting them and placing them in athlete folders (milk crates on the window ledges) today before practice.

12 & Under athletes should have a parent retrieve the contents of their folders.  13 & older athletes are able to access their folders without an adult.

We are not responsible for lost or misplaced caps (or other items in folders). 
If you are not able to pick up your athlete’s caps, they will also be available at the check-in table on Saturday morning!


State T-Shirt Design

Every year, we have special T-shirts for State and Regional Championship meets. Qualified athletes automatically receive a T-shirt as part of their participation fees but anyone can order these shirts to show team support!

This year, we are asking all Manta Rays athletes and families to show us your creativity and help us design the YMCA State T-shirt!

Things to know/keep in mind when creating designs:

  • The designs should not exceed an 18” x 18” area.
  • The state meet has a theme; the shirt should reflect the meet theme in some way.  The 2026 State Theme is: The Red Carpet.
  • State T-shirts usually include:
    • The team’s name (Manta Rays Swim Team)
    • The name of the meet (Iowa YMCA State Championship Swim Meet)
    • The date of the meet (Boys: Saturday, March 7th, 2026; Girls: Sunday, March 8th, 2026)
    • Qualified Athlete Names (these are usually listed on the back)-we won’t have a final list until after the submission deadline, so just be sure you include space for this in your design!
    • You will also need to include what color t-shirt you would like the design to be on.
  • Designs should be emailed to me ([email protected]) no later than Sunday, January 5th, 2026, in either .jpg or .png format.  If you use Canva to create your design, you can share it with me directly in Canva.
  • Designs may have to be altered to meet YMCA branding requirements (including, but not limited to: font, color palette, logo placement, etc.).    

We will consider all appropriately submitted designs and if needed we will have the athletes vote on their favorite!

 

Inclement Weather Policy

Here’s a brief reminder of our team policies regarding inclement weather:

For Practices:

  • On scheduled No-School days, early dismissals, holidays, or if there is a late start, etc… practices will be held as normal as permitted.
  • In case of school cancellation/early dismissal due to inclement weather all swim practices will be cancelled.

For Swim Meets:

  • In the case of inclement weather on scheduled meet dates the coaches, committee members and Aquatics Directors from all traveling teams and Manta Rays Swim Team will decide if the meet is to be cancelled, postponed, delayed, etc… once we have determined our access to Carver pool from the Muscatine Community School District.
  • If you feel it is unsafe to travel to a meet due to weather conditions, you may scratch your swimmer individually. Please send a direct message the coaches via the team app immediately so that they have time to make changes to the meet/relays.

 

Thanks all! Have a great day!

Jocelyn

PS: Don’t forget that practices are at the YMCA on Thursday, December 4th due to MHS boys home swim meet at Carver!